§ MR. PYM (Bedford)I beg to ask the President of the local Government Board if he will state whether, under the Local Government (Transfer of Powers) Bill, powers of Government Departments could be transferred to a County Council in opposition to the views of the Departments or of the local authorities concerned.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER LONG, Bristol, S.)Under Section 10 of the Local Government Act, 1888, the Local Government Board can make Provisional Orders for transferring to the Councils of counties and county boroughs certain powers and duties of Departments of the Government and other bodies. This, however, can at present only be done generally. The object of the Bill is to enable the transfer to be made as respects the Council of a particular county or borough where the circumstances may render this desirable, without its being necessary to deal with the Councils of all the counties and counts' boroughs. The consent of the Government Departments or other bodies whose powers were proposed to be transferred would still be required, and the Order 273 would not take effect until it was confirmed by Parliament. Under the Bill particular cases could be met where there is no objection to the transfer on the part of the borough or other district Councils who would be affected. In the event of there being substantial opposition on the part of those Councils to the proposal, I should not contemplate making a transfer.